“What to do when nobody cares or respects what you are doing?” Hope this post illuminates the kind of photo advice I’m talking about. Not f/stops and lens choices but real world situations. Let me know if this is relevant in any way.Yes, it’s really long and rambling, and maybe I’m the only one who thinks this way, but only one way to find out. Good luck, have fun, make pictures.
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Had the chance to listen to this while on a road trip back to NJ today. Loved it, especially the part about taking prints with you. Makes so much sense. Every week, I look forward to the videos James Victore does. Now I’m going to look forward to these.
Sound, solid advice. Thanks Daniel.
Being able to show examples of your work is crucial in my opinion; a Blurb book or even a newspaper like the example you showed a few posts back spring to mind.
Mike.
Some of that made me chuckle. All valid points and not to be taken lightly, especially the last one. Do what you say you’re going to do. My father drilled that into me from a young age and I’ve done my best to follow it. Not easy at times.
Somewhere in there should be ‘develop a thick skin’. Maybe it’s implied but it’s necessary. When you make that return trip, or third, or seventh, nothing speaks to your character more than brushing yourself off and standing back up. That’s when a connection with locals really begins to solidify. They remember. Stick-to-it-ness does wonders.
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Sean,
Yes, hearing “no,” is a terrible feeling at times, but I”m at the point where I expect it. It still hurts but it’s part of the game.
The part that took me a very long time to come to grips with was learning how to say ‘No’ myself. Once I felt comfortable with it, hearing it from others was no big deal. As you say, just part of the game.
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Sean,
I love saying no. It’s funny. I’ve been approached by publishers to do books, twice actually. Both times I said no. I was JUST thinking about this walking down the street.
Hey Dan,
So I just came upon this little comment from an old 2010 interview with Tim Hetherington published a few short months before his death. Interesting view from a guy who really understood the process of telling stories with cameras. Didn’t really know where to post it so I popped it here.
“If I am a newspaper editor, why am I going to hire you to take a photograph separately when I can take snippets out of your video and use them as stills? When people started writing to communicate, it was monks writing books. When the printing press was invented, it made the work of those monks partly redundant. If I make a project now with images taken out of a video stream, is that “photography”? Probably not. I don’t think we can protect the art form and idea of photography. When you look at a photography book, it’s very beautiful but you can feel the age of it. That is what I’m saying about living in a post-photographic age. Not that photography ceases to exist, but the art form has been delegated. Even Alec Soth, a still photographer whom people revere, has said that it’s not just about the good pictures anymore; it’s about the edit. The next step is that it’s about the idea. But still and motion are two distinct media. I’d argue that Joe Rosenthal’s photo of the U.S. flag being raised on Iwo Jima, for example, is more powerful than the film footage. The still image has power versus the video; but what isn’t important is the craft. Moving images allow us to be, for lack of a better word, lazy. We prefer moving images. A still image requires a creative interaction with it—you have to think. Moving images, contextualized with sound, drag you in—you’re fed it.”
Link to full piece – http://www.photovideoedu.com/Learn/Articles/interview-tim-hetherington.aspx
He was amazing. Such humanity in a line of work that makes it very hard to stay human.
I just re-watched ‘Diary’ last night and about a week ago, ‘Restrepo’ and ‘Where is the Front Line from Here?’. While Restrepo is incredibly powerful, Diary is at another level. Simple and no frills but as he mentions above, you’re dragged in. If you haven’t seen it, highly recommend ‘Where is the Front Line from Here?’. It’s a documentary on Tim put together by Sebastian Junger who worked with him on Restrepo. If you’re into that story line, I’d also recommend Junger’s other work, ‘Korengal’ and ‘The Last Patrol’.
That was a great interview. Thanks for the link.
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Sean,
Have seen most of what you mention, and yes, all top notch. Diary is awesome. So much more interesting than most. Personal.
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Mark,
That is..right-on-the-money. That’s why I like living in my own “post photographic” world. I have no desire to make money from this anymore, so I just shoot what I want, when I want and the luxury of thinking more about the idea than what I have to do with it when I’m done.
This post rocks! I know…that’s not exactly a cerebral sounding bit of feedback, and it contains an exclamation point (which seems to be a highly overused piece of punctuation nowadays) – so sue me…this post rocks!
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Thanks Alan. Appreciate that. Glad you liked it.